School Happenings: Sunday, May 2, 2010

Black Mountain/Golden Valley Middle School students participated in the Northern Arizona Elementary/Junior High School Large Group Festivals on March 27 at Prescott High School. The event was sponsored by the Arizona Band & Orchestra Directors Association and the Arizona Choral Directors Association.

Students worked and practiced very hard the entire year for this outstanding recognition.

The Black Mountain book fair was a huge success and helped to raise more than $1,000 to buy new books and supplies for the library. A big thanks to all parents and students that came to the book fair and helped support our school.

Art Masters' focus for the month was the impressionist artist Cezanne. Students created works of art in the style of Cezanne.

The annual student/staff basketball game was on April 22. Students paid to get out of class and go to the game to help support the Music Club and raise money for a competition in Disneyland.

Upcoming events

5/6-5/7: Band to Disneyland for a music camp with Disneyland musicians.

5/11: Open house from 5-6 p.m.

5/24- 5/25: Field days.

5/25: Early release.

5/26: Early release for last day of school.

Cerbat

Principal Dawn McGill

Two Cerbat students took first place in the Knights of Columbus Alcohol and Substance Abuse poster contest for their age group. Ariadne Jackson placed first in the 10-year-old group, and Carl Mecom took first for the 12-year-old group. Both students' posters will be sent to the state for the statewide competition.

On April 21, both students attended a social event held by the Knights of Columbus that honored them and all the other poster winners. They also won gift certificates and $100 savings bonds. We are proud of their accomplishments!

On April 17, students, parents and teachers worked together to paint the newly resurfaced playground. The group worked to paint a new U.S. map on the playground along with new hopscotch, four square and tetherball games for students to enjoy at recess.

On April 28, Family Literacy Night was held for students and parents to enjoy books, stories and playing reading games. The event was hosted by Deanna Klein. It was a great success.

For the entire month of April, students and teachers have been collecting soda pop tabs to help support the Ronald McDonald House. The student with the most pop tabs by weight will be the winner. The entire student body will present their pop tabs to Ronald on May 3.

Young Authors Kick-off is May 3. Published children's author David Greenberg will be sharing his stories with the students, staff and families of Hualapai Elementary. When Mr. Greenberg is not busy writing books, he travels the country presenting stories and ideas about being a writer to students of all ages. Mr. Greenberg's presentation begins the two-week-long Young Authors Celebration of creativity, imagination and writing.

Family Space Night is May 6 from 6-8 p.m.

Aim for the stars and find your favorite constellation on this special night. Climb inside our space bubble and be transported into outer space where you will explore the solar system on a guided tour. Make an edible solar system and complete experiments and activities that are out of this world.

Young Authors Skits and Exceptional Writers Tea is May 14.

"That monkey is my teacher!" Oh, those silly teachers - dressed up and acting out students' outstanding stories and poems. One student from each grade level will be chosen to have his or her written creation acted out by the teachers. This event is always a crowd-pleaser, especially among the students.

After school, the three exceptional writers chosen from each class will be honored at a tea in the library. Each exceptional writer will receive a certificate, rosette ribbon and recognition of his or her remarkable writing talents. Come join us in a celebration of creativity, imagination and adventure.

Upcoming events

May Lifeskills: Responsibility and Sense of Humor.

5/3: Kindergarten Round-up, 4-6 p.m.

5/7: Teacher Appreciation Lunch sponsored by HPVA.

5/13: Mental Math competition held at Manzanita, 9 a.m.-noon.

5/17-21: Spring Book Fair.

5/25: Early release.

5/26: Early release for last day of school.

Kingman Middle School

Principal Jerry Arave

The Kingman Middle School Honor Band received top honors at the Arizona Band & Orchestra Director Association's large group festival held in Prescott on March 27. Experienced adjudicators assessed middle school bands and orchestras from across Northern Arizona using a six-point rubric on musical skills, technical accuracy interpretation, artistry and stage presence.

Under the direction of Julie Gragg, the KMS Honor Band was awarded the rating of Superior with Distinction. This was the group's first participation in this regional competition.

Pageant of Bands was on April 10 at Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, sponsored by the Arizona Music Educators Association for the 45th consecutive year

KMS Honor Band performed in Division I and received a rating of Superior. The group performed "Korean Folk Rhapsody" and "Chester Variations."

KMS participated in the annual Relay Track Meet on April 24. Students from KMS, White Cliffs Middle School, Bullhead, Lake Havasu and Kingman Academy of Learning participated in the track meet where all events are a relay. Students from each team compete in each event and their scores are added together to determine the school winner of each event.

On April 24, the Kingman Middle School Softball Tournament was held at Centennial Park.

Upcoming events

5/1: AMEA Middle School Honors Band Festival at Lake Havasu High School. KMS will be performing at 4:15 p.m.

5/7-5/8: Drama play, "The Aliens are Coming," 7 p.m. in the carpeted gym.

5/25: Awards Assembly and Field Day.

5/25: Early release.

5/26: Early release for last day of school.

La Senita

Principal Sue Hamilton

We have finished our Stanford 10 and AIMS testing for the year and feel very confident about the outcome of the assessments. The students were in rally mode to do their best and we are hoping the ranking of "Highly Performing" will be ours next year.

May will give a chance to breathe a little easier, but the class work will go on. We are looking to our Mental Math team to do well at the district Mental Math competition at Manzanita. With the ending of school comes our honor assemblies, with 1-3 grade assembly on May 25 at 9 a.m., followed by the honor assembly for 4-5 grades on May 26 at 9 a.m. in our gym. Both days are minimum attendance days, with the students being released at 11:30 a.m. Kindergarteners will have a special timeline; please refer to the flyers the students will be bringing home.

Upcoming events

5/25: Honor assembly grades 1-3, 9 a.m.; early release.

5/26: Honor assembly grades 4-5, 9 a.m.; early release for last day of school.

Manzanita

Principal Jeri Wolsey

First-graders had a fabulous time at the Phoenix Zoo. Students worked hard to raise funds to be able to go to the zoo. It was an exciting day for all who attended this fun educational trip.

On April 14, the Manzanita Title 1 Parent Night was held. Students and parents had the opportunity to make fun spring decorations and had fun celebrating reading together.

Manzanita students rocked the AIMS test. Students and teachers have been working for months to prepare for success on state testing. To celebrate students' hard work, they were treated to a rock concert on April 28.

K-3 students and the Dolan Springs VFW Women's Auxiliary made a beautiful quilt to be raffled to help raise money for charity. Each child put their handprint on a square of the quilt. The quilt will be raffled off to raise money for the Banner Children's Hospital, to assist in helping children with chronic illnesses. Anyone interested in purchasing raffle tickets can do so at Mt. Tipton School or the Dolan Springs VFW.

Upcoming events

5/1: Mt. Tipton PTO Small Business and Craft Expo, 11:30-3:30 p.m. in the gymnasium.

5/3-5/12: Mt. Tipton Book Fair.

5/13: Instrumental concert, 7 p.m. in the gymnasium.

5/25: Early release.

5/26: Early release for last day of school; high school Graduation, 5 p.m.

Palo Christi

Principal Steve Hite

Palo Christi held its annual Science Fair on March 4 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the gymnasium. This year all students were encouraged to participate, and we had more than 100 entries. Entries were judged based on the Scientific Method, and all entries received a ribbon.

Hite's Hot Dogs was held on April 30 withlunch on the lawn. This event is held each year to reward perfect attendance for the AIMS test and to help celebrate the end of the year. Students and staff had a great time.

Upcoming events

5/3: Hampstead Play Company presents "Oliver Twist," 12:30 p.m.

5/13: Mental Math competition at Manzanita.

5/14: Performance by Kingman Middle School Band directed by Julie Gragg.

5/25: Awards assembly and early release.

5/26: Early release and last day of school.

White Cliffs Middle School

Principal John Venenga

AIMS testing went very well this month. We had great student attendance for the testing. Staff and students are confident and optimistic that they will have great results.

On April 24, WCMS celebrated Arbor Day with the Cerbat Garden Club. The day was spent planting trees on campus, and Arbor Day poster winners were recognized and given awards on this day.

Congratulations to Nicholas Rhodes for placing 8th in the Arizona State Geography Bee. This is a fabulous accomplishment. Congratulations, Nicholas, for all your hard work and extensive knowledge in geography.

Upcoming events

5/3-5/7: Teacher Appreciation Week.

5/6-5/7: Student Council Retreat to Phoenix for leadership training.

5/12: Band concert, 6 p.m.

5/17-18-20: Various drama class performances, 6:30 p.m. in the cafetorium.